The new Hogwarts staff – who are the actors joining the Harry Potter TV series?

The upcoming Harry Potter TV show will see British actors Nick Frost and Paapa Essiedu alongside US star John Lithgow join the cast for the HBO original series.

The majority of the new cast announced on Monday come from theatre backgrounds, following in the footsteps of the franchise’s star actors who also began their careers on stage including Imelda Staunton, Alan Rickman, Ralph Fiennes and the late Dame Maggie Smith.

The new series, which has not yet cast its younger characters – including wizard Harry Potter, will stay authentic to the original books while bringing the Hogwarts world and the adventures of the wizards to new audiences.

Here are the actors who will play the school staff when production begins at Warner Bros Studios Leavesden in summer 2025:

– John Lithgow

Lithgow, 79, is set to play Hogwarts headmaster Professor Albus Dumbledore, a role previously played by Richard Harris and Sir Michael Gambon in the film franchise.

The US actor recently won an Olivier for playing children’s author Roald Dahl in Giant in the West End and has six Emmy awards to his name, including the 2017 best supporting actor award for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in the hit Netflix series The Crown.

The 3rd Rock From The Sun star was born into a theatrical family – his mother was an actress and his father a producer – and, while he majored in history and literature at Harvard, theatre was his priority.

Lithgow pursued theatre, spending two academic years at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art on a Fulbright scholarship.

He made his Broadway debut in The Changing Room in 1973 and won his first Tony award for a featured role in a play.

Lithgow later became known for his versatile stage and on-screen acting from playing Roberta Muldoon, a transgender ex-football player in 1982’s The World According To Garp to Cardinal Joseph Tremblay in the drama Conclave.

Paapa Essiedu (Ian West/PA)PA Archive/PA Images - Ian West

– Paapa Essiedu

The 34-year old theatre star will portray the Professor of Potions, Severus Snape – who was played by Rickman in the original films.

Known for Gangs Of London and I Will Destroy You, Essiedu trained at Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

He received an Olivier nomination for best actor for his role as Delroy in Death Of England but lost out to Lithgow.

The Londoner recently acted alongside Saoirse Ronan in The Outrun, playing Daynin, the boyfriend of Ronan’s character who suffers from addiction.

Essiedu has received two Bafta nominations for leading actor, one in 2021 for his role in the BBC drama I May Destroy You and the second in 2024 for the Lazarus Project in which his character, George, finds himself reliving the same events until he is introduced to a top-secret organisation that can rewind time.

– Nick Frost

The actor and comedian, 53, is best known for playing the blundering sidekick Pc Danny Butterman in the comedy Hot Fuzz.

Frost will now take on the role of Rubeus Hagrid, the friendly groundskeeper in the series who was played by the late Scottish actor, Robbie Coltrane, in the films.

He is also known for playing Ed in Shaun Of The Dead, a 2004 dark comedy which follows a London electronics salesman and his roommate whose lives are disrupted by a zombie apocalypse.

– Janet McTeer

The 63-year-old actress studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before beginning her career with the Royal Exchange Theatre.

She received a Tony and Olivier award in 1997 for best actress in a play for playing Nora Helmer in A Doll’s House and has since appeared in Gangs Of London, Kaos, and The Menu.

The  Ozark actress is set to play head of Gryffindor House, Professor Minerva McGonagall, who was portrayed by Dame Maggie in the film series.

Paul Whitehouse (PA)PA Archive/PA Images - Jonathan Brady

– Paul Whitehouse

Whitehouse, known for The Death Of Stalin, will take on the role of Argus Filch – the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry’s caretaker.

He is best known for his work on the BBC sketch comedy The Fast Show, where he won the Light Entertainment Performance Bafta in 1998.

– Luke Thallon

The British stage actor will appear in the series as the first book’s main antagonist, Quirinus Quirrell.

The Londoner trained at Guildhall School of Music & Drama and played Roland Maule in the National Theatre’s production of Present Laughter.